By Marc Tracy
In Taipei, Taiwan, people gathered Tuesday to commemorate the massacre in Tiananmen Square in Beijing on June 4, 1989, when the Chinese military squashed student protests, killing an unknown number of demonstrators.
A financial-information company partly owned by the news organization Thomson Reuters removed articles related to the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square massacre from the feeds of its data terminals in China last week.
The move came under pressure from the Chinese government, Reuters reported Monday.
The data firm that complied with the censorship demands, Refinitiv, is Reuters’s biggest customer.
The data firm that complied with the censorship demands, Refinitiv, is Reuters’s biggest customer.
It prevented some articles that included mentions of the pro-democracy demonstrations from appearing on its Eikon software and mobile app in China.
In a statement, Refinitiv pointed to legal realities in China, whose government previously blocked websites from publishing stories it deemed politically sensitive.
In a statement, Refinitiv pointed to legal realities in China, whose government previously blocked websites from publishing stories it deemed politically sensitive.
The Chinese authorities have also denied visas to journalists working for news outlets that have published articles that were critical of the nation’s leaders.
In recent days, with the 30th anniversary of the uprising approaching, China has made efforts to quash public mentions of the day when tanks and troops moved into the Beijing plaza and crushed student-led protests.
In recent days, with the 30th anniversary of the uprising approaching, China has made efforts to quash public mentions of the day when tanks and troops moved into the Beijing plaza and crushed student-led protests.
Reuters reported on Monday that the Cyberspace Administration of China, which censors online speech, had threatened to suspend Refinitiv if it did not go along with its demand to pull articles that mentioned what took place in Tiananmen Square.
In a statement, Refinitiv said, “As a global business, we comply with all our local regulatory obligations, including the requirements of our license to operate in China.”
The Cyberspace Administration of China did not respond to a faxed list of questions.
In a statement, Refinitiv said, “As a global business, we comply with all our local regulatory obligations, including the requirements of our license to operate in China.”
The Cyberspace Administration of China did not respond to a faxed list of questions.
There was apparently little discussion of the Tiananmen Square anniversary on the Chinese internet. A small number of people shared the news and other articles related to the crackdown by posting images that appeared upside down or were otherwise manipulated to fool censoring software.
The move by Refinitiv echoed a decision by Bloomberg News in 2013 to stop publication of an investigative article on links between a wealthy businessman in China and the families of the country’s leaders, including that of Xi Jinping.
While that decision was made about a year after Bloomberg reported the personal wealth of several leaders’ families, it also followed an order from Chinese officials to various companies to halt their subscriptions to Bloomberg’s terminals, which have generated billionsfor Bloomberg L.P.
The move by Refinitiv echoed a decision by Bloomberg News in 2013 to stop publication of an investigative article on links between a wealthy businessman in China and the families of the country’s leaders, including that of Xi Jinping.
While that decision was made about a year after Bloomberg reported the personal wealth of several leaders’ families, it also followed an order from Chinese officials to various companies to halt their subscriptions to Bloomberg’s terminals, which have generated billionsfor Bloomberg L.P.
At least three Bloomberg journalists resigned after the company gave in to official pressure.
Fifty-five percent of Refinitiv is owned by a consortium of private-equity funds managed by the Blackstone Group.
Fifty-five percent of Refinitiv is owned by a consortium of private-equity funds managed by the Blackstone Group.
Thomson Reuters owns the rest, having sold the majority portion last year at a valuation of $20 billion.
Under the deal, Refinitiv licenses Reuters news services for roughly $325 million annually.
Just as Bloomberg News makes money from Bloomberg terminals, Refinitiv’s bread and butter is Eikon, not the Reuters news articles it includes on the platform.
Just as Bloomberg News makes money from Bloomberg terminals, Refinitiv’s bread and butter is Eikon, not the Reuters news articles it includes on the platform.
On its website, Refinitiv bills Eikon as a digital product that allows users to “turbocharge your analysis of the financial markets with the ultimate set of tools.”
A Blackstone spokesman referred questions on the pulled articles to Refinitiv.
A Blackstone spokesman referred questions on the pulled articles to Refinitiv.
So did a Reuters spokesman, after standing up for the company’s journalism in a statement.
“Reuters reports around the world in a fair, unbiased and independent manner,” the spokesman, David Crundwell, said.
“Reuters reports around the world in a fair, unbiased and independent manner,” the spokesman, David Crundwell, said.
“And we stand by our China coverage.”
“We continue to provide Refinitiv with the same scope of content that we always have, including stories relating to China, and its decisions will not affect the breadth or quality of our coverage,” he said.
In a memo emailed to Reuters staff members that was obtained by The New York Times, the company president, Michael Friedenberg, and the editor in chief, Stephen J. Adler, said they had “expressed our concern” to Refinitiv.
“We urge you all to continue reporting as you always would: to pursue the truth, without fear or favor,” they said.
Last month, two Reuters journalists were released from prison by Myanmar’s government, which had held them for 16 months for covering the military’s attacks on the Rohingya minority.
Days before the journalists were set free, Mr. Friedenberg and Mr. Adler released a statement: “These are treacherous times for journalists and — consequently — for the billions of people around the globe whose lives can be informed, improved and sometimes even saved by the work journalists do.”
“We continue to provide Refinitiv with the same scope of content that we always have, including stories relating to China, and its decisions will not affect the breadth or quality of our coverage,” he said.
In a memo emailed to Reuters staff members that was obtained by The New York Times, the company president, Michael Friedenberg, and the editor in chief, Stephen J. Adler, said they had “expressed our concern” to Refinitiv.
“We urge you all to continue reporting as you always would: to pursue the truth, without fear or favor,” they said.
Last month, two Reuters journalists were released from prison by Myanmar’s government, which had held them for 16 months for covering the military’s attacks on the Rohingya minority.
Days before the journalists were set free, Mr. Friedenberg and Mr. Adler released a statement: “These are treacherous times for journalists and — consequently — for the billions of people around the globe whose lives can be informed, improved and sometimes even saved by the work journalists do.”
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